Cognitive stimulation for improving cerebral functions of elderly

Memory is one of the most important aspects of neuroscience, especially regarding teaching and learning processes. Activities that require attention and logical thinking increase brain synaptic density by improving the mnemonic performance. The Federal University of Pelotas/RS offers to the elderly of the community 60-minute weekly classes in the Workshop of Memory and Cognitive Stimulation. The objective of this study was to analyze the motivation of the elderly when performing the activities proposed in the classes. For that, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was used. Twenty-four elderly people participated in the study, and 83.3% affirmed that the classes were "Very fun"; 75% were very satisfied with their performance in the activities; 91.6% stated that they had made considerable effort to carry out their activities. The results indicate that the elderly were motivated to take classes of cognitive stimulation

Estimulação cognitiva para melhoria das funções cerebrais de idosos

Memory is one of the most important aspects of neuroscience, especially regarding teaching and learning processes. Activities that require attention and logical thinking increase brain synaptic density by improving the mnemonic performance. The Federal University of Pelotas/RS offers to the elderly of the community 60-minute weekly classes in the Workshop of Memory and Cognitive Stimulation. The objective of this study was to analyze the motivation of the elderly when performing the activities proposed in the classes. For that, the Intrinsic Motivation Inventory was used. Twenty-four elderly people participated in the study, and 83.3% affirmed that the classes were "Very fun"; 75% were very satisfied with their performance in the activities; 91.6% stated that they had made considerable effort to carry out their activities. The results indicate that the elderly were motivated to take classes of cognitive stimulation.A memória é um dos aspectos mais importantes da neurociência, principalmente no que concerne aos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem. Atividades que requerem atenção e pensamento lógico aumentam a densidade sináptica cerebral melhorando o desempenho mnemônico. A Universidade Federal de Pelotas/Rio Grande do Sul oferece aos idosos da comunidade a Oficina de Memória e Estimulação Cognitiva com aulas semanais de 60 minutos. O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a motivação dos idosos ao executarem as atividades propostas nas aulas. Para tanto foi utilizado o Inventário de Motivação Intrínseca. Participaram do estudo 24 idosos, sendo observado que 83,3% destes afirmaram que as aulas eram “Muito divertidas”; 75% demonstraram estar muito satisfeitos com seu desempenho nas atividades; 91,6% afirmaram ter se esforçado bastante no cumprimento das atividades. Os resultados demonstraram que os idosos estavam motivados na realização das aulas de estimulação cognitivaLa memoria es uno de los aspectos más importantes de la neurociencia, principalmente en lo que concierne a los procesos de enseñanza y aprendizaje. Las actividades que requieren atención y pensamiento lógico aumentan la densidad sináptica cerebral mejorando el rendimiento mnemónico. La Universidad Federal de Pelotas/RS ofrece a los ancianos de la comunidad el Taller de Memoria y Estimulación Cognitiva con lecciones semanales de 60 minutos. El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar la motivación de los ancianos al ejecutar las actividades propuestas en las clases. Para ello se utilizó el Inventario de Motivación Intrínseca. Participaron del estudio 24 ancianos, siendo observado que el 83,3% de éstos afirmaron que la clase era "Muy divertida"; 75% demostraron estar muy satisfechos con su desempeño en las actividades; el 91,6% afirmó haberse esforzado bastante en el cumplimiento de las actividades. Los resultados demostraron que los ancianos estaban motivados en la realización de las clases de estimulación cognitiva

Novos registros do g\ueanero Trachelomonas Ehr. (Euglenophyceae) no Parque Estadual Delta do Jacu\ued e no Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

O levantamento do gênero Trachelomonas Ehr. (Euglenophyceae) em 26 corpos d´água da área do Parque Estadual Delta do Jacuí, localizado a 29º 56' e 30º 03'S, 5lº l2' e 51º 25'W, resultou no registro de nove novas citações de espécies de Trachelomonas Ehr. para o Estado do Rio Grande do Sul, são elas: Trachelomonas abrupta Swir. emend. Defl. var. obesa (Playf.) Defl. T. conica Playf., Trachelomonas duquei Conf. & Nudelman, Trachelomonas megalacantha Cunha var. crenulatocollis Bour. & Manguin, Trachelomonas verrucosa Stockes var. granulosa (Playf.) Hub.-Pest., Trachelomonas zingeri Roll, três são ainda novos registros para o país: Trachelomonas cylindraceae f. cylindraceae (Playf.) Pop., Trachelomonas helvetica Lemm. emend. Defl. e Trachelomonas splendidissima Middelhoek. São apresentadas descrições, ilustrações, comentários, distribuição geográfica e a amplitude de condições ambientais em que cada táxon foi encontrado

Clinical and genetic characteristics of late-onset Huntington's disease

Background: The frequency of late-onset Huntington's disease (>59 years) is assumed to be low and the clinical course milder. However, previous literature on late-onset disease is scarce and inconclusive. Objective: Our aim is to study clinical characteristics of late-onset compared to common-onset HD patients in a large cohort of HD patients from the Registry database. Methods: Participants with late- and common-onset (30–50 years)were compared for first clinical symptoms, disease progression, CAG repeat size and family history. Participants with a missing CAG repeat size, a repeat size of ≤35 or a UHDRS motor score of ≤5 were excluded. Results: Of 6007 eligible participants, 687 had late-onset (11.4%) and 3216 (53.5%) common-onset HD. Late-onset (n = 577) had significantly more gait and balance problems as first symptom compared to common-onset (n = 2408) (P <.001). Overall motor and cognitive performance (P <.001) were worse, however only disease motor progression was slower (coefficient, −0.58; SE 0.16; P <.001) compared to the common-onset group. Repeat size was significantly lower in the late-onset (n = 40.8; SD 1.6) compared to common-onset (n = 44.4; SD 2.8) (P <.001). Fewer late-onset patients (n = 451) had a positive family history compared to common-onset (n = 2940) (P <.001). Conclusions: Late-onset patients present more frequently with gait and balance problems as first symptom, and disease progression is not milder compared to common-onset HD patients apart from motor progression. The family history is likely to be negative, which might make diagnosing HD more difficult in this population. However, the balance and gait problems might be helpful in diagnosing HD in elderly patients